12/12/2012

Rivera's plane plunged from 28,000 feet

Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera died Sunday, December 9, when the small plane she was traveling in crashed in the mountains of northern Mexico, her brother told CNN. Rivera, 43, was known to fans as "La Diva de la Banda," or the Diva of Banda Music, establishing herself as a musical powerhouse with her Spanish-language performances of regional Mexican corridos, or ballads. Recently, she had been working to crack the English-language U.S. market.

Federal police are on hand at a base near the plane crash site Sunday in Iturbide, Mexico. "The aircraft was destroyed, totally fragmented," an aviation official told CNN affiliate Televisa. Six others were killed, including the singer's publicist, attorney and makeup artists, her brother, Gustavo Rivera, told CNN en Espanol.

A helicopter flies over the crash site Sunday as investigators search the area. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

Civil protection personnel and soldiers inspect the perimeter of the crash site Sunday. The plane took off early Sunday from Monterrey, Mexico, and shortly lost contact with air traffic controllers.

Known to fans as "La Diva de la Banda" or The Diva of Banda Music, Rivera was well-established as a musical powerhouse with her Spanish-language performances of regional Mexican corridos, or ballads. For fans, the nickname captured her powerful voice and the personal strength many admired.

In recent years, she had been working to crack the English-language U.S. market and was reportedly on the verge of a crossover with a sitcom inspired by the success of "I Love Jenni," a Spanish-language reality TV show on Telemundo's mun2 network.

Rivera sold 15 million records, according to Billboard, and recently won two Billboard Music Awards, including favorite Mexican music female artist.

In October, People en Español added her to its list of the 25 most powerful women.

She performed at a concert in Monterrey on Saturday night before boarding the Learjet, which took off early Sunday and lost contact with air traffic controllers about 60 miles into the trip.